What makes atoms stick together? I just need help finding out what makes them stick together. I tried looking here and I found why they  stick but not how.
 A: Atoms stick together by sharing electrons that exist in the outermost layer or "orbital" of electrons encircling the atom, called the valence electrons. Sometimes the electron orbitals involved in this sharing process have spherical symmetry and in other atoms the orbitals have preferred directions in space; this can determine whether or not the resulting aggregation of atoms will be malleable or brittle. In addition, sometimes the shared electrons are free to roam from one atom to another, causing the resulting aggregate of atoms to be electrically conductive; in the case where they are locked down between the neighboring atoms and not free to move, the aggregate will be an insulator. The redistribution of electric charge around the bonded atoms which results from this sharing process can give rise to electrostatic attraction between the nucleus of one atom and the electron cloud of the other; in other cases, the sharing process is so extreme that one atom loses an electron more or less completely to the other atom, leaving each with a net electrical charge of opposite sign to the other. This charge imbalance causes the bonded atoms to electrostatically attract one another.
A: There are two forces that hold an individual atom together. The electromagnetic force keeps the atom's electrons in orbit around the nucleus. And the strong nuclear force binds the protons and neutrons together in the atom's nucleus.
